stage for the first big legislative battle of his second term. >> i will put everything i've got into this and so will joe. but i'll tell you, the only way we can change is if the american people demand it. >> well, he's talking about gun control. at a public event wednesday, the president called for sweeping changes to gun laws outlining four major legislative proposals asking for a ban on military-style assault rifles, high-capacity magazines, extending background checks and toughening gun trafficking laws. mr. obama also mentioned executive actions mostly to toughen existing laws. at the emotionally charged event the president was surrounded by children who wrote him letters of gun violence. family members of the newtown victims were in the audience, including the parents of 7-year-old grace mcdonnell. >> chris, her father, gave me one of her paintings, and i hung

it in my private study just off the oval office. and every time i look at that painting, i think about how when it comes to protecting the most vulnerable among us, we must act now for grace. >> the nra is getting ready for battle, raising money and e-mailing supporters to upgrade their membership for, quote, the fight of the century. >> we're not saying that your rights are at risk. the president of the united states is saying that. >> so where do things go from here? nbc's tracie potts is in washington for us. tracie, how is the president going to get the public and congress to support this legislative agenda? >> reporter: with a very public campaign, mara. started last night with an op-ed the president published in "the connecticut post." the newspaper up there where the newtown tragedy happened. in it he said that congress needs to help and not hinder bypassing this ban on assault weapons and on magazines, but it

looks like that's iffy here on capitol hill. the white house also has a campaign-style tour planned, we don't know where he'll stop, but they are hoping speeches the president does around the country will draw support. and they are launching a website with videos from victims talking about different ways they want to curb gun violence. so a lot of things being planned by the white house. at this point it looks to be shaping up to be quite a fight. >> tracie potts live in washington. thank you for that. americans held hostage, last week's french intervention against rebels in mali has taken a violent turn. islamic militants have taken dozens of hostages at a neighboring gas installation. the u.s. has condemned the action as a terrorist attack. nbc's duncan golestani is in cairo with the latest. duncan, we are hearing reports of hostages having escaped, what do you know about that? >> reporter: yeah, mara, a lot of developments in the last 20

minutes. the so he shouassociated press americans have escaped from the complex, but we are also hearing from a news agency saying algerian helicopters have also bombed the complex where the hostages have being held. no more information than that and no more confirmation i should add. we do know during the morning there has been the algerian army surrounding the desert. some of them have been going to a news channel and some of the hostages are said to have been hurt, and others say they are being treated well by their captors, but we must remember the circumstances in which they are speaking. >> thank you for that update, duncan. french military forces tried to rescue denise alex held by al

shabob since 2009. the group announced this morning on twitter that he was actually executed last night. more boeing 787 dreamliners are grounded. the federal aviation agency has ordered the jets not to fly while the risk of battery fires is fwhfgted. investigated. united airlines, the only airline in the u.s. flying that new plane has six dreamliners. the faa action came the same day as dreamliner made an emergency landing in japan after a cockpit message showed battery problems and a burning smell detected in the cabin. the two biggest airlines in japan have voluntarily grounded their 787 fleets pending safety checks. turning now to a bizarre story involving notre dame star linebacker manti te'o and news that the reported cancer death of his girlfriend was actually a hoax, in fact, the woman never even existed. nbc's kurt gregory explains. >> reporter: notre dame linebacker manti te'o was the centerpiece of a fighting irish football team that shocked

experts. recording a storybook season. a highly publicized death of te'o's girlfriend lennay kekua who was believed to help inspire te'o to the top of the college football world. notre dame called that story a hoax. >> this was a very elaborate, very sophisticated hoax, perpetrated for reasons we can't fully understand that had a certain cruelty at its core. >> reporter: the story of the hoax broke on deadspin, a popular sports website that is reporting the girlfriend doesn't even exist. as the story spread, te'o released a statement saying that he's the, quote, victim of what was apparently someone's sick joke and constant lies. notre dame's athletic director jack swarbrick said te'o's reported relationship with kakua took place online and that the linebacker learned of her fake

death in a late december phone call. in his statement, te'o said he and kekua maintained what he thought to be an authentic relationship by communicating frequently online and on the phone. and that he grew to care deeply about her. swarbrick said an investigation by a firm hired by notre dame convinced him that te'o was duped into the relationship and the fake death. >> nothing about what i have learned has shaken my faith in manti te'o one iota. >> reporter: plenty of questions remain as the sports world waits for te'o's side of the story. kurt gregory, nbc news. well, now, for a look at the weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins. that's a strange story raising a lot of questions. >> tomorrow will be a whole new development, i'm sure of it. if he comes out of the press conference and spills the beans on everything, hopefully we get some clarification. but the hedge factor. well, the weather in the west remains very quiet, but

that's also causing some issues. we would like to replace some of the air, especially in the northwest. when you get these big huge domes of high pressure sitting overhead, it can get very cold at night and warmer during the day. that's kind of the pattern we have been in lately, but the air needs to be replaced with nice fresh pacific air. the same air mass is just sitting in the same spot. as the cars and buildings pollute the air, the air quality goes down. right now an air stagnation is almost for majority of the areas of washington state, including oregon and the portland area. and we are also dealing with freezing fog this morning in some of the valley locations. down to 30 in seattle with fog. so there could be slippery spots out there. be careful of the freezing fog on the sidewalks right now, but high pressure dominates and the sunshine will be out this afternoon. a nice day in the southwest. that's awith the heavier coat a

it home. temperatures near 70 in san diego. no changes anywhere or any time soon, either. >> thank you, bill. newtown, connecticut's school superintendent blasts the critics. president obama's chief of staff will name names. plus, scientifically engineered jeans that offer your legs an image something they've never had before. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. here's some other stories making news this morning. the superintendent of schools in newtown, connecticut, is rejecting the idea of armed guards in schools. janet robinson testified at a congressional hearing saying she just can't see teachers carrying weapons. published reports say that deputy national security adviser denis mcnonough is likely to

become president obama's next chief of staff, replacing jack lew who has been nominated as the treasury secretary. the famed board walk in seaside heights destroyed by -- in siberia a massive chunk of snow fell on a man on a rescue mission sending him down the ladder. fortunately, he was able to hang on while fellow rescuers came to his aid. turning to business, the dow snapped a five-day winning streak thanks mostly to boeing. the company fell after the faa grounded all u.s. dreamliner flights. looking ahead weekly jobless claims come out and intel reports after the bell. yesterday, confidence among u.s. home builders held steady in january after the highest level in seven years. meanwhile, realtytrac says foreclosure rates were near a six-year low as the housing

market continues to recover. to help prevent a kind of mortgage meltdown, a consumer watchdog is announcing new rules to protect homeowners. as of january of next year, services will be required to issue clear billing statements, warning them of interest hikes and so-called dual tracking will be eliminated, meaning delinquent loans can no longer be considered for modification and prep at the same time. on the earnings front, ebay reported inline with expectations but fell short of yearly estimates. >> tough times for cirque de so lail. they will slash 400 jobs before march after being forced to cancel several recent shows. germany is bringing home its gold. some $36 billion of gold bars stored in u.s. and france are being shipped back to the homeland over the next eight years following criticism of germany ice central bank lacking oversight of its strawtegic

reserve. west coast coffee houses are about to get some competition. dunkin' donuts is setting up shop in six california counties by 2016. and is this for real? lizzy jagger modeled a pair of the denim spa line and will come with aloe vera, natural butters including passion fruit and oil even a fair that claims to fight cellulite. 136 bucks. straight ahead, we'll take you with the stories, baffling and just plain fun. plus, your sports headlines are next. you're watching "early today."

and now to some other stories that caught our eye this morning. we begin in tennessee with a stunning car wreck on the highway. an suv smashed into a guardrail before rolling onto its hood. slick roads may have contributed to the crash. the driver was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. now to oregon and an emergency rescue where a woman became trained between two buildings. she spent four hours stuck in an eight to ten-inch gap after falling from the roof of a building. firefighters doused the woman with soap and water to slide her through the passageway they created. no california the best surfers have arrived for the mavericks invitational. a few of the extreme athletes took a test run on the gigantic

waves at half-moon bay. an approaching swell could produce 30 to 40-foot waves for sunday's competition. that's amazing. and finally in detroit a fisherman was wrangling for perch but he brought in a monstrous fish. he caught a 3-pound, 15-inch goldfish. he plans to mount the trophy catch on his wall. in sports, nba, heat versus the wizards. 21-year-old lebron james is now the youngest player to reach the 20,000 point mark in his career. only 38 other players have reached that in league history. the heat cruise to an easy win over golden state, 92-75. an overtime thriller as chicago's luol deng hit a jump shot with three seconds left on the clock. the bulls beat the raptors 107-105. and a dramatic upset in college basketball as maryland was trailing with five seconds left in the game. one shot missed, but alex land grabbed it and scored to knock off north carolina state, 51-50.

go terps! in the nfl chip kelly is the new head coach of the philadelphia eagles after saying he would stay in oregon, kelly changed his mind and took the job in philadelphia. and a billboard sign in boston is counting down the minutes until the retirement party for baltimore linebacker ray lewis. the sign suggests that the patriots will beat the ravens on sunday and that lewis will retire after 17 nfl seasons. well, just ahead, charlie sheen names the biggest partiers on the planet. that's got to be quite a list. plus, your weather as you head out the door. you're watching "early today" on nbc.

well, welcome back. pretty sample forecast for nevada, arizona, california. lots of sunshine today after a cold start. again, freezing fog until about 10:00 a.m. in isolated portions of seattle to portland. it is hit and miss where it is. same case will be tomorrow morning. too. los angeles, you're in for a stretch of just fantastic weather. all that cold conditions you had ringing in the new year are long gone. we are sitting pretty with sunshine across the board through monday, mid to upper 70s. >> what i wouldn't do to be in l.a.? >> that's a nice week to be there. >> so jealous of them. thank you, bill. who parties harder than charlie sheen? according to sheen johnny depp and sean penn are both hard core, which is hard for sheen to keep up with. well, actor conrad bain best known as the father figure on the '80s hit series "different strokes" has passed away monday

at the age of 89. al pacino and his "scarface" director are re-teaming for the film of "happy valley," a feature about penn state coach joe paterno. and here's a topless ryan gosling. we love that. in a recent interview, the actor likened his abs to pets. on "the tonight show" jessica simpson chatted with jay about her second pregnancy. >> are you doing -- like you last time, i remember you told me, you just went crazy eating? >> yeah, well, the last time i kind of ate everything in sight. we have had two different wedding dates, but he keeps knocking me up. and finally "american idol" finally premiered its newest judges last night. and "access hollywood" asked the question, was nicki and mariah bickering too much? 80% apparently said yes. i don't want conflict. >> they tried to draw us in and

look forward to it and the big fights and battles. >> it doesn't look like it's working. we'll see. and this comes from wsls news channel 10 in roanoke, virginia, where in nearby campbell county, the 6-year-old learned the secret service is keeping an eye on him at this year's presidential inauguration. nathan norman and his family will be at the inauguration. the invitation was just the latest show of support the cancer-stricken child has received since he asked for christmas cards from firefighters and first responders. i'm mara schiavocampo and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

one man in china might be lighter than a feather. a home decorator managed to stand on top of several rows of eggs without breaking a single shell. he balanced on the eggs and even picked up a bicycle with his mouth for the tv show inspired feat. despite breaking plenty of eggs, i'm sure he did, he's ready for the next big challenge, no word on what that is. well, watch what you eat. the extreme eating awards have ranked the worst dishes at your favorite restaurants. the annual awards list chart-topping deep fried breakfast steak from ihop. no surprise there. smoothies with 22 spoons of sugar from smoothie king. and creamy pasta from the cheesecake factory, thousands of calories. they are delicious. and for dessert, a full pound of chocolate cake with 1,800 calories. >> for eating a pound of cake -- >> that's never a good idea. jay leno asked an age old question of his audience last night, which is a smarter

animal, cats or dogs? some pretty strong evidence came in first in favor of cats when he showed off her cat successfully playing a cup and ball game. but were the dogs nearly as convincing? no, man's best friend did not show off his intellectual prowl. the cats were declared the winner. i agree with that. time for an early look ahead and a look back. the aurora colorado, theater where 12 people were gunned down and dozens opened back in july will reopen today. families of the victims plan to boycott the event. on this day in 1994 a 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck in the early morning hours. buildings collapsed which claimed 61 lives and caused an estimated $20 billion worth of damage. and we want to wish a happy birthday to two lovely ladies. first lady michelle obama turns 49 today. and funny lady betty white turns 91 years young. all day long you can stay on top of the very latest developments of those stories and the best political analysis on msnbc.

and tonight be sure to watch "nbc nightly news" with brian williams. finally here's what's coming up later on the "today" show. matt speaks to one of the writers who broke the story about the notre dame linebacker girlfriend hoax. and actress catherine zeta jones talks about her new role in a good new york city cop thriller. keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm mara schiavocampo. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one.

new details involving a notre dame star star athlete and a nonexistent stanford students. parents in one school district say more needs to be done to protect their kids. giants world series trophy taking flight in just a few hours. we'll tell you where it is now headed. the city that owns that trophy is san francisco. a beautiful live look over the city before the sun comes up on this thursday, january 17th. this is "today in the bay." a very good thursday morning, everyone. it is almost 4:31. i'm jon kelley. >>